Many of our clients ask us about the difference between a saturation list and targeted list.
Saturation List
A Saturation List or Occupant List allows you to reach all households in a given geography with a lower postage rate than a Targeted List. The reason for the lower price is because you’re reaching every household in a given carrier route, translating to less work for the Post Office. One of the drawbacks of a Saturation List is not every household will have a name available with the file. Here are some of the selects that you can apply to a Saturation/Occupation List:
- Dwelling Type
- PO Boxes
- Route Type
- Select by: Carrier Route, Zip Code, Zip+4, County, Radius or Custom Map
You do have the option to filter routes by Household Income and some Ethnicity, but what that means is you can take those carrier routes who have a mean income or higher percentage of your selected Ethnic Groups. Again, you can’t just target those households with incomes above $50,000 or Spanish Households because then you would not be mailing every household in the carrier route.
In this case, the difference between a Saturation List and Targeted List:
The Good: Lowest possible postage
The Bad: Very limited targeting, not all households will have a contact name
Targeted List
A Targeted List allows you to reach specific households in a given geography while applying a number of demographic or property selects. Every industry or service has an ideal prospect that fits into different molds. An insurance agent who is marketing Renters Insurance doesn’t want to mail to Homeowners or a Mortgage Broker offering VA Refinance Loans will only want to reach those people with current VA Loans. You will not qualify for saturation postage pricing when using a targeted list.
Here are some of the selects that can be applied to a Targeted List:
- Dwelling Type
- Homeowner/Renter
- Age, Income, Marital Status, Presence of Children
- Ethnicity
- Mortgage Information
- Property Information (Pool, Year Built, Roof Type)
- Lifestyle information, Buying propensity
- Select by: Carrier Route, Zip Code, Zip+4, County, Radius or Custom Map
In this case, the difference between a Saturation List and Targeted List:
The Good: Higher response rates due to the specific nature of the targeted list, ability to target households based on demographics, buying habits, and attitudes.
The Bad: Higher Postage
Conclusion:
In Conclusion, each option has positives and negatives. It all depends on your product or service. Ask yourself if this is for everyone (like Pizza). Or, is this for a certain market segment (like pediatric dentistry). Is every household is your ideal customer or would you be better with a targeted group of people. Who are your best prospects?